See? For me this was a super quick chapter!

Reminders/explanations, things to keep in mind:

1) Hisoka never actually introduced himself to Shori. When he started to she interrupted him, "Your brother called you Hisoka." Since she believes Tsuzuki Asato is his brother, she would naturally assume that 'Tsuzuki' is his family name.

2) Just because Hisoka is remembering some things, he does not have all his memories back. Nor will he understand everything he remembers.

3) I own nothing but the kitchen sink.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

"There you are bouya."

Hisoka looked up into the familiar silver blue eyes of the man in white.

"Kazutaka."

Muraki took a step closer as Hisoka pushed himself into a standing position, using the tree for support. "Why did you leave?"

Hisoka looked away. "You were angry, and you wanted to… to…"

"You thought I would hurt you."

At that Hisoka looked back, green eyes narrowing. "No, I knew you would."

Muraki sighed. "Come bouya, I'll take you home." He turned away and began walking as if he expected Hisoka to follow him, and Hisoka had to fight the urge to do so. In spite of the darkness in the man, in spite of the fact he was afraid of him, Kazutaka was someone familiar in a world that was spinning rapidly out of control.

And there was a strong desire to just let the man take him home.

Home.

But…

That place was not home.

Home is where Tsuzuki is.

The thought snapped Hisoka back to reality and he realized that he had taken several steps after Muraki. He started to turn away, then stopped.

Muraki looked back over his shoulder coming to a halt when he saw that Hisoka had stopped moving. "Is something wrong?"

"A math problem."

"And what would that be?" Muraki asked, raising an eyebrow in mild perplexation.

"I remember being thirteen."

Muraki nodded.

"And you've told me that I'm sixteen now."

Muraki nodded again.

Hisoka clenched his hands into tight fists. "So how can six years have passed?" He held Muraki's gaze willing the man to come up with a reasonable explanation. "What happened to me?"

In an instant, Muraki's whole demeanour changed. A predatory smile formed on his lips and menace began to radiate off him.

Hisoka's eyes widened at the newly perceived threat and he began to back away slowly, 'til he came up against the tree where he had collapsed earlier.

Muraki advanced on him, a slow steady pace, and Hisoka shivered seeing the ice in his gaze. "So you noticed that little discrepancy did you? You want to know what happened to you? Let me show you."

Muraki reached out and Hisoka flinched back, rapping his head off the trunk of the tree hard enough to see stars. In that moment of disorientation, Muraki brushed his fingers across Hisoka's forehead and Hisoka screamed as burning lines of pain spread along the length of his body.

"This is what happened to you."

Hisoka barely registered the words as they were spoken, it took everything he had just to stay on his feet as the pain tore across his nerve endings. Through his shirt, he could see red lines glowing through the thin fabric.

"Now bouya…" Muraki began, but cut off as the shadows around Hisoka, stirred and erupted from the ground, forcing him to fall back. Muraki scowled, but decided that retreat was preferable to facing the man behind the moving shadows. Tatsumi Seiichiro was a formidable adversary by himself, and he already knew that Watari was somewhere nearby, besides, he had reactivated his curse, he wouldn't loose track of the boy again.

Hisoka collapsed for a second time as the wave of blackness swelled around him, he felt Muraki's presence flicker and depart. His vision blurred as he gasped for breath, and he was vaguely aware of several people rushing towards him, a tall man in a dark blue suit, the blonde who had been peeking at him earlier, and…

XXX

The pained scream that ripped through the early evening gave them a direction, and Tatsumi and Watari's paths merged as they ran full tilt towards the dwindling sound.

Tatsumi saw them first, the small figure pinned to the tree by the presence of the man in white. Tatsumi sent his power surging into the boy's own shadow, causing it to flare, pushing Muraki back. Tatsumi watched as Muraki scowled and disappeared.

"Damn!" Tatsumi's fingers twitched. He would have preferred a chance to use his shadows on the man fully.

He allowed the shadow to fall back to its natural position, revealing the collapsed form barely hanging on to consciousness.

Both Tatsumi and Watari came to a halt beside the shivering figure, Watari reaching out to him. "Hey, bon, are…"

"Stop!" Another voice cried out, "Don't touch him!"

XXX

Shori had been telling Hisoka about her dance studio when the youth had suddenly moaned and stumbled to his feet, pale and shaking, she had reached out to him, asking if he was alright, but he had turned and run, only to be followed by a stranger with long blonde hair.

Confused and worried, Shori had gotten to her feet and followed after them.

The scream, when she heard it, startled her badly, but she recognized it as her companions' voice, and hurried after it. Whatever was happening to him now, she felt partly responsible, after all, she had brought him here.

She found him laying at the base of a tree with the blonde and another man looming over him.

"Stop!"

Both men paused, looking up at her.

"Don't touch him!"

She reached Hisoka's side and swung her purse at the blonde man.

"Hey!" He exclaimed as he fell back.

Grabbing Hisoka's arm she dragged him up, and supporting the semi-conscious youth she began to back the two of them away.

"Wait."

Shori looked at the tall man, meeting a pair of intense sapphire blue eyes.

"We're his friends, we want to help him."

Shori frowned at him. "Yeah, right. He ran, he chased." She gestured at Watari. "That just screams friendship to me." She continued to back away, pulling Hisoka with her.

Glazed green eyes passed over the two shinigami without reaction.

"Kurosaki-kun." Tatsumi took a step after them.

Shori hissed at him. "Stay back! Just stay away from us!"

Hisoka's head jerked back and he tried to focus on Tatsumi. "Who…" Hisoka's head lolled and he sagged against Shori as his tenuous grasp on consciousness slipped.

Shori kept her gaze locked on the two men as she manoeuvred Hisoka and herself through the parking lot of the Kokakuro to her car. Pulling open the passenger side door, she let Hisoka fall into the seat and closed the door behind him. Still wary, she hurried around the car and got behind the wheel, locking the doors with a sharp 'click'. Starting the car, she pulled out of the lot and pushed the gas petal to the floor.

XXX

For several minutes Tatsumi and Watari stared after the rapidly departing vehicle, before turning to look at each other.

"Who was that?" Tatsumi asked.

Watari shrugged. "I have no idea. Should I go after them?"

Tatsumi nodded. "Just keep track of them."

XXX

Tsuzuki was sitting on a bench in a nearly deserted park watching the sun lower to the horizon when a flutter of wings drew his attention. He held up his open hand and allowed the delicate 'fuda bird to land on the palm of his hand.

"You know where he is then?"

The bird let out a soft coo and Tsuzuki smiled faintly.

The next moment the park was empty.

XXX

Why wouldn't they let him go? He wanted nothing more than the oblivion that death had offered. He did not want to be a shinigami, he did not want to return to Chijou, there was nothing there for him.

After refusing the offer that had been presented to him by Enma's representative, he had been sent to this office where he was treated as nothing more than a filing clerk. He did the work that he was given quietly and effectively, interacting as little as possible with the other people in the office, he didn't want to be around anyone who felt anything… Even if it was just mild curiosity or indifference.

But even he couldn't completely avoid the gossip that travelled around the office.

"…was thought to be a death caused by an illness, but now that's being questioned."

"How did you get access to the unsolved case files anyway?"

"That's a secret. Do you want to hear about this or not?"

"Of course. Why would a natural death be questioned?"

"Well, the exact illness was never identified, and it lasted for three years…"

His head shot up as his co-workers discussed, what to them was merely an interesting case, but to him…

"Now there is speculation that it was not an illness at all, but a curse."

"A curse?"

"Yup. That's what brought it to the attention of the higher ups, for someone who so young to be murdered by a deliberate curse…"

"How young?"

"Just sixteen…"

His head was spinning, he knew they were talking about him, he knew it! But how could he have been murdered? And why? Why would anyone want to kill him? He had never harmed anyone in his life, even if he had had the desire to, he never would have had the opportunity.

For almost a whole week he moved in a daze, his co-workers conversation playing over and over again in his mind.

And finally he came to a decision.

The tall heavy set man in the lightly wrinkled suit entered the office where he had been asked to wait.

"Enma-sama has instructed that we extend our offer to you one more time before you are allowed to pass on."

He nodded. "I'll do it."

There was a shift and he found himself outside among the sakura trees, once again facing the tree where his doubles waited. He shook his head trying to get his bearings.

The child that was him was franticly tearing at the bonds of the captive form.

"We're so close! C'mon, just a little more…"

Green eyes widened as he took in the state of the chains, there were hair-thin cracks running through the links, and the chains themselves looked corroded and ready to fall apart.

He grabbed the chains and started pulling as franticly as the child had been doing before, and the resulting movement caused the gag to slip.

The green eyes of the bound figure, identical to his own, blinked in surprise and he let out a cry.

"Free me!"